Armstrong walks on moon - Jul 20, 1969 - HISTORY.com Armstrong walks on moon Publisher A+E Networks At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. The American effort to send astronauts to the moon has its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” At the time, the United States was still trailing the Soviet Union in space developments, and Cold War-era America welcomed Kennedy’s bold proposal.

In 1966, after five years of work by an international team of scientists and engineers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted the first unmanned Apollo mission, testing the structural integrity of the proposed launch vehicle and spacecraft combination. Then, on January 27, 1967, tragedy struck at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, when a fire broke out during a manned launch-pad test of the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket. Three astronauts were killed in the fire. Despite the setback, NASA and its thousands of employees forged ahead, and in October 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, orbited Earth and successfully tested many of the sophisticated systems needed to conduct a moon journey and landing. In December of the same year, Apollo 8 took three astronauts to the dark side of the moon and back, and in March 1969 Apollo 9 tested the lunar module for the first time while in Earth orbit. Then in May, the three astronauts of Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in a dry run for the scheduled July landing mission. At 9:32 a.m.

on July 16, with the world watching, Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins aboard. Armstrong, a 38-year-old civilian research pilot, was the commander of the mission. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by Armstrong and Aldrin, separated from the command module, where Collins remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:18 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas, a famous message: “The Eagle has landed.” At 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module. As he made his way down the lunar module’s ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation.

At 10:56 p.m., Armstrong spoke his famous quote, which he later contended was slightly garbled by his microphone and meant to be “that’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” He then planted his left foot on the gray, powdery surface, took a cautious step forward, and humanity had walked on the moon. “Buzz” Aldrin joined him on the moon’s surface at 11:11 p.m., and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. flag, ran a few simple scientific tests, and spoke with President Richard M. Nixon via Houston. By 1:11 a.m. on July 21, both astronauts were back in the lunar module and the hatch was closed. The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at 1:54 p.m. the Eagle began its ascent back to the command module.

Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon–July 1969 A.D–We came in peace for all mankind.” At 5:35 p.m., Armstrong and Aldrin successfully docked and rejoined Collins, and at 12:56 a.m. on July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24. There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by, Apollo 13. The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. The Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today’s dollars).

The expense was justified by Kennedy’s 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished ongoing missions lost their viability. Related Videos BBC ON THIS DAY | 21 | 1969: Man takes first steps on the Moon 1969: Man takes first steps on the Moon American Neil Armstrong has become the first man to walk on the Moon. The astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft. Armstrong had earlier reported the lunar module's safe landing at 2017 GMT with the words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." As he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." He described the surface as being like powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep. 'We came in peace' The historic moments were captured on television cameras installed on the Eagle and turned on by Armstrong. Armstrong spent his first few minutes on the Moon taking photographs and soil samples in case the mission had to be aborted suddenly.

He was joined by colleague Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin at 0315 GMT and the two collected data and performed various exercises - including jumping across the landscape - before planting the Stars and Stripes flag at 0341 GMT. They also unveiled a plaque bearing President Nixon's signature and an inscription reading: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind." After filming their experience with a portable television camera the astronauts received a message from the US President. President Nixon, in the White House, spoke of the pride of the American people and said: "This certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made." Many other nations - including the UK - sent messages of congratulation. Moscow Radio announced the news solemnly in its 1030 GMT broadcast. As Aldrin and Armstrong collected samples, Michael Collins told mission control in Houston he had successfully orbited the Moon in the mother ship Columbia, and take-off was on schedule for 1750 GMT this evening.

NASA - The First Person on the Moon The First Person on the Moon 01.16.08 Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin flew on the Apollo 11 mission. Image Credit: NASA It was 1961. John F. Kennedy was the president of the United States. He wanted to land humans on the moon. The United States had just started trying to put people in space. Was NASA ready to go to the moon? The president and NASA knew they could do it. They were ready to put people on the moon. Apollo 11's mission was to land two men on the moon. They also had to come back to Earth safely. Apollo 11 blasted off on July 16, 1969. Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins were the astronauts on Apollo 11. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon. They landed on the moon in the Lunar Module. It was called the Eagle. Collins stayed in orbit around the moon. He did experiments and took pictures.

The sign the astronauts left on the moon says, "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." Image Credit: NASA On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon. He and Aldrin walked around for three hours. They did experiments. They picked up bits of moon dirt and rocks. They put a U.S. flag on the moon. They also left a sign on the moon. The two astronauts returned to orbit, joining Collins. On July 24, 1969, all three astronauts came back to Earth safely. President Kennedy's wish came true. It took less than 10 years. Humans had walked on the moon. Did man really walk on the Moon or was it the ultimate camera trick, asks David Milne? The great lunar lie. In the early hours of May 16, 1990, after a week spent watching old video footage of man on the Moon, a thought was turning into an obsession in the mind of Ralph Rene.

"How can the flag be fluttering," the 47 year old American kept asking himself, "when there's no wind on the atmosphere free Moon?" That moment was to be the beginning of an incredible Space odyssey for the self-taught engineer from New Jersey. He started investigating the Apollo Moon landings, scouring every NASA film, photo and report with a growing sense of wonder, until finally reaching an awesome conclusion: America had never put a man on the Moon. The giant leap for mankind was fake. It is of course the conspiracy theory to end all conspiracy theories. But Rene has now put all his findings into a startling book entitled NASA Mooned America. Published by himself, it's being sold by mail order - and is a compelling read. The story lifts off in 1961 with Russia firing Yuri Gagarin into space, leaving a panicked America trailing in the space race. At an emergency meeting of Congress, President Kennedy proposed the ultimate face saver, put a man on the Moon. With an impassioned speech he secured the plan an unbelievable 40 billion dollars. And so, says Rene (and a growing number of astro-physicists are beginning to agree with him), the great Moon hoax was born.

Between 1969 and 1972, seven Apollo ships headed to the Moon. Six claim to have made it, with the ill fated Apollo 13 - whose oxygen tanks apparently exploded halfway - being the only casualties. But with the exception of the known rocks, which could have been easily mocked up in a lab, the photographs and film footage are the only proof that the Eagle ever landed. And Rene believes they're fake. For a start, he says, the TV footage was hopeless. The world tuned in to watch what looked like two blurred white ghosts gambol through rocks and dust. Part of the reason for the low quality was that, strangely, NASA provided no direct link up. So networks actually had to film "man's greatest achievement" from a TV screen in Houston -a deliberate ploy, says Rene, so that nobody could properly examine it. By contrast, the still photos were stunning. Yet that's just the problem. The astronauts took thousands of pictures, each one perfectly exposed and sharply focused. Not one was badly composed or even blurred. As Rene points out, that's not all: * The cameras had no white meters or view ponders.

So the astronauts achieved this feat without being able to see what they were doing. * Their film stock was unaffected by the intense peaks and powerful cosmic radiation on the Moon, conditions that should have made it useless. * They managed to adjust their cameras, change film and swap filters in pressurized clubs. It should have been almost impossible without the use of their fingers. Award winning British photographer David Persey is convinced the pictures are fake. His astonishing findings are explained alongside the pictures on these pages, but the basic points are as follows: * The shadows could only have been created with multiple light sources and, in particular, powerful spotlights. But the only light source on the Moon was the sun. * The American flag and the words "United States" are always brightly lit, even when everything around is in shadow. * Not one still picture matches the film footage, yet NASA claims both were shot at the same time. * The pictures are so perfect each one would have taken a slick advertising agency hours to put them together. But the astronauts managed it repeatedly. David Persey believes the mistakes were deliberate, left there by "whistle blowers", who were keen for the truth to one day get out.

If Persey is right and the pictures are fake, then we've only NASA's word that man ever went to the Moon. And, asks Rene, why would anyone fake pictures of an event that actually happened? The questions don't stop there. Outer space is awash with deadly radiation that emanates from solar flares firing out from the sun. Standard astronauts orbiting Earth in near space, like those who recently fixed the Hubble telescope, are protected by the Earth's Van Allen belt. But the Moon is to 240,000 miles distant, way outside this safe band. And, during the Apollo flights, astronomical data shows there were no less than 1,485 such flares. John Mauldin, a physicist who works for NASA, once said shielding at least two meters thick would be needed. Yet the walls of the Lunar Landers, which took astronauts from the spaceship to the moons surface were, said NASA, "about the thickness of heavy duty aluminum foil". How could that stop this deadly radiation? And if the astronauts were protected by their space suits, why didn't rescue workers use such protective gear at the Chernobyl meltdown, which released only a fraction of the dose astronauts would encounter?

Not one Apollo astronaut ever contracted cancer - not even the Apollo 16 crew who were on their way to the Moon when a big flare started. "They should have been fried," says Rene. Furthermore, every Apollo mission before number 11 (the first to the Moon) was plagued with around 20,000 defects a-piece. Yet, with the exception of Apollo 13, NASA claims there wasn't one major technical problem on any of their Moon missions. Just one effect could have blown the whole thing. "The odds against these are so unlikely that God must have been the co-pilot," says Rene. Several years after NASA claimed its first Moon landing, Buzz Aldrin "the second man on the Moon" - was asked at a banquet what it felt like to step on to the lunar surface. Aldrin staggered to his feet and left the room crying uncontrollably. It would not be the last time he did this. "It strikes me he's suffering from trying to live out a very big lie," says Rene. Aldrin may also fear for his life. Virgil Grissom, a NASA astronaut who baited the Apollo program, was due to pilot Apollo 1 as part of the landings build up.

In January 1967, he hung a lemon on his Apollo capsule (in the US, unroadworthy cars are called lemons) and told his wife Betty: "if there is ever a serious accident in the space program, it's likely to be me." Nobody knows what fueled his fears, but by the end of the month he and his two co-pilots were dead, burnt to death during a test run when their capsule, pumped full of high pressure pure oxygen, exploded. Scientists couldn't believe NASA's carelessness - even chemistry students in high school know high pressure oxygen is extremely explosive. In fact, before the first manned Apollo fight even cleared the launch pad, a total of 11 would-be astronauts were dead. Apart from the three who were incinerated, seven died in plane crashes and one in a car smash. Now this is a spectacular accident rate. "One wonders if these 'accidents' weren't NASA's way of correcting mistakes," says Rene. "Of saying that some of these men didn't have the sort of 'right stuff' they were looking for." NASA won't respond to any of these claims, their press office will only say that the Moon landings happened and the pictures are real.

But a NASA public affairs officer called Julian Scheer once delighted 200 guests at a private party with footage of astronauts apparently on a landscape. It had been made on a mission film set and was identical to what NASA claimed was they real lunar landscape. "The purpose of this film," Scheer told the enthralled group, "is to indicate that you really can fake things on the ground, almost to the point of deception." He then invited his audience to "come to your own decision about whether or not man actually did walk on the Moon". A sudden attack of honesty? You bet, says Rene, who claims the only real thing about the Apollo missions were the lift offs. The astronauts simply have to be on board, he says, in case the rocket exploded. "It was the easiest way to ensure NASA wasn't left with three astronauts who ought to be dead," he claims, adding that they came down a day or so later, out of the public eye (global surveillance wasn't what it is now) and into the safe hands of NASA officials, who whisked them off to prepare for the big day a week later. And now NASA is planning another giant step - project Outreach, a 1 trillion dollar manned mission to Mars.

"Think what they'll be able to mock up with today's computer graphics," says Rene chillingly. "Special effects was in its infancy in the 60s. This time round we will have no way of determining the truth." Space oddities: * Apollo 14 astronaut Allen Shepard played golf on the Moon. In front of a worldwide TV audience, Mission Control teased him about slicing the ball to the right. Yet a slice is caused by uneven air flow over the ball. The Moon has no atmosphere and no air. * A camera panned upwards to catch Apollo 16's Lunar Lander lifting off the Moon. Who did the filming? * One NASA picture from Apollo 11 is looking up at Neil Armstrong about to take his giant step for mankind. The photographer must have been lying on the planet surface. If Armstrong was the first man on the Moon, then who took the shot? * The pressure inside a space suit was greater than inside a football. The astronauts should have been puffed out like the Michelin Man, but were seen freely bending their joints. * The Moon landings took place during the Cold War. Why didn't America make a signal on the moon that could be seen from earth?

The PR would have been phenomenal and it could have been easily done with magnesium flares. * Text from pictures in the article. Only two men walked on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission. Yet the astronaut reflected in the visor has no camera. Who took the shot? * The flags shadow goes behind the rock but doesn't match the dark line in the foreground, which looks like a line cord. So the shadow to the lower right of the spaceman must be the flag. Where is his shadow? And why is the flag fluttering? First Moon Landing 1969 - YouTube First Moon Landing 1969 Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Feb 10, 2006 The video of the very first moon landing of the apollo 11 mission in 1969!

Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon with his now legenday words "One small step for man, a giant leap for mankind." This is a truly amazing video and it was in 1969!!! If you think about it, you have orders of magnitude more processing power in your mobile phone than they did in the whole space craft!! Incredible! Category The First Moonwalk | NASA: Challenging the Space Frontier | Scholastic.com How would you feel if you were the first person to walk on the moon? What might your first words be? Neil Armstrong takes the first step onto the moon. (NASA) Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planting an American flag on the moon's surface. (NASA) Aldrin posing for a photo. (NASA) The First Moonwalk It is 9:30 p.m. Houston time on July 20, 1969. Armstrong and Aldrin put on their bulky moon suits and prepare to take the first steps on the moon. Armstrong is the first to wriggle out of a square hole in the Eagle. Once outside, he lowers a small drawbridge that holds a TV camera. Now the world can watch as he backs down the ladder.

Back on the home planet, 600 million people watch on television. Armstrong touches the moon's surface and says, "That's one small step for man one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin climbs out next. "Beautiful! Beautiful!" he says. "Magnificent desolation." He and Armstrong struggle to plant an American flag on the moon's surface. They get it standing, barely, and take pictures. President Nixon calls and congratulates them. Finally, they gather 50 pounds of rocks and set up experiments. After about two hours, Aldrin and Armstrong crawl back into the Eagle. Both men have now been awake for 22 straight hours. They are supposed to rest before the complicated rendezvous with Collins, who is circling the moon every two hours. But they can't. There is little heat in the paper-thin LM, and they shiver with cold. After less than a day on the lunar surface, it is time to go. Using its one small engine, the top part of the Eagle rises up. Dust blows everywhere. "I looked up long enough to see the flag fall over," Aldrin recalls. Armstrong and Aldrin rendezvous with Collins in the Command Module.

Once all three astronauts are back onboard Columbia, they release the Eagle. It falls away and crashes on the moon. Columbia then heads back towards Earth. Newsweek Rewind: 45th Anniversary of Apollo 11's Moon Walk Newsweek Rewind: 45th Anniversary of Apollo 11's Moon Walk On 7/20/14 at 9:17 AM Newsweek Tech & Science Moon NASA Space Space Exploration Forty-five years ago, three brave astronauts launched into space with the goal of becoming the first to walk on the moon. The now-legendary crew of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins left the planet on July 16, 1969, setting off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center and arriving on the Moon four days later. On July 20, "with one small step," Neil Armstrong made history, becoming the first person to set foot on the moon. The next day, his smiling face was on the cover of Newsweek.

THE LATEST NEWS IN PICTURES Launch Slideshow Photos: Standing on the Moon On July 20, "with one small step," Neil Armstrong made history, becoming the first person to set foot on the moon 10 PHOTOS Try Newsweek for only $1.25 per week Like most Americans, Newsweek's editors were fascinated by this moment in space history. Newsweek reported on the space age dozens of times (45 cover stories) from October 1957, when Sputnik 1 went into orbit, through the Apollo landing on the moon in July 1969, including six cover stories devoted specifically to Apollo missions in that year. Newsweek "The Moon Age: How We Got There and Where We're Going" (July 7, 1969) set the stage for the Apollo 11 mission, describing the political climate and social impact of the Apollo projects: In a world where man's mastery of nature is still so tenuous that he cannot as yet predict tomorrow's weather, the fact that Kennedy's pledge appears ready to be redeemed within the timetable set in 1961 is a tribute to both human ingenuity and to the nation's technical talent.

As the British magazine Spectator noted recently, 'Anyone who remains unmoved by this extraordinary event must surely have allowed his television set to replace his imagination.' A 27-page long cover package, "The Moon Age" included stories on the project's origins and goals, the money and brainpower invested in Apollo, an environmental balance sheet, and the report on how the moon age affected ordinary Americans, in addition to a full-color gallery of the most awe-inspiring photography from the first decade of space exploration. Newsweek even enlisted former NASA public-information officer Paul Haney—the "Voice of Apollo"—to serve as a special consultant for the magazine's Apollo coverage. Newsweek's July 21 issue featured a timeline of Apollo 11's planned twenty-two hours on the moon's surface and a great illustration titled "U.S. on the Moon" by artist Paul Calle. The actual landing coverage came the following week in a fifteen-page cover spread called "Mission the Moon," with a gorgeous snapshot of the first moonwalk by Ken Regan—Camera 5, courtesy of WHIO-TV, Dayton-Oho.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," said Neil Armstrong as he became the first human to scuff the surface of the moon with his foot. At 10:56 p.m. EDT Sunday night, as perhaps 1 billion earth men and women watched and listened, the civilian commander of Apollo 11 stood on the 37-inch-diameter landing pad of his Eagle-shaped gear and pressed it into the Sea of Tranquility. He was a ghostly white figure, moving in buoyant ungravity on a powdery plain some 240,000 miles away—and yet as close as the TV set across the room, as real as a recurrent dream. For with him walked all men who have ever lived or who are yet to live. President Nixon described the scene as "the longest 22 seconds of my life." Almost immediately, the crew was back to business; Armstrong radioed back his initial impressions to Aldrin: "The surface is fine and powdery. I can kick it up loosely with my toe." Aldrin joined him about twenty minutes later. Aldrin: "Beautiful view!" Armstrong: "Isn't that something?

Magnificent sight here." Aldrin: "Magnificent desolation." The astronauts then attached a plaque to the Eagle: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." The trio spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the moon, and returned home to Earth on July 24. Related Stories Photos: Standing on the Moon For those interested in the nitty-gritty of what it takes to send astronauts to the moon, we've included the original 353-page flight plan of the Apollo 11 mission is below, as well as a key to some of the technical language in the document. The Apollo 11 Flight Plan The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon By SPACE.com Staff | August 25, 2013 05:28am ET MORE Neil Armstrong sits in the lunar module after a historic moonwalk. Credit: NASA Neil A. Armstrong was a NASA astronaut and the first man on the moon or, more accurately, the first man to set foot on the moon.

He was also an accomplished test pilot and a figure so large in American and world history that you can bet many generations from now people will still be talking about him, as well as his moon landing. Editor's Note: Neil Armstrong died on Aug. 25, 2012. He was 82. One year after his death, NASA recalled the iconic astronaut's legacy in a video tribute. The Truth About Neil Armstrong (Op-Ed) Here are some frequently asked questions about him: Who was Neil Armstrong? He is best known as being the first man to step on the moon (fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin arrived at the moon at the same time, but was the second man to actually set foot on the lunar surface). Since Armstrong was the mission’s pilot, it’s also said that he was the first person to land a craft on the moon. Where was Neil Armstrong from? He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on Aug. 5, 1930. His parents were Stephen Koenig Armstrong and Viola Louise Engel. What mission did Armstrong fly to the moon? Apollo 11 was the name of the first manned lunar landing mission. When was the first moon landing?

Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. That was more than eight years after President John F. Kennedy gave his historic speech in which he said, “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.” Who was the first person in space? Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth on April 12, 1961, giving the Soviet Union a big victory in its Cold War space race against the United States. [ Giant Leaps: Top Milestones of Human Spaceflight ] NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong is seen here next to the X-15 ship #1 after a research flight. Credit: NASA Other facts in the history of Armstrong’s career: Armstrong was a naval aviator from 1949 to 1952. He served in the Korean War.

Well before he made spaceflight history, Armstrong got a bachelor of science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Purdue University in 1955 (later, he received a master of science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California in 1970.) As a NASA test pilot , Armstrong flew the X-15, a rocket-powered, missile-shaped aircraft that tested the limits of high-altitude flight. He flew more than 200 different aircraft, from jets to gliders and even helicopters. Armstrong was the pilot of the Gemini 8 mission, launched March 16, 1966. He performed the first successful docking of two vehicles in space (Gemini 8 docked with a previously launched Agena rocket). After his time as an astronaut, Armstrong was Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA Headquarters. From 1971-1979, he was Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. From 1982-1992, Armstrong was chairman of Computing Technologies for Aviation, Inc., Charlottesville, Va. Armstrong largely avoided the public spotlight after his astronaut days. But he remained a vocal supporter of suborbital spaceflight .

On the other hand, the former Apollo astronaut was publicly critical of plans to shift the crew-carrying burden in spaceflight from NASA to private spaceships. Related: How Neil Armstrong Became the First Man on the Moon Updated August 29, 2016. Who Was the First Man on the Moon? For thousands of years, man had looked to the heavens and dreamed of walking on the moon. On July 20, 1969, as part of the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong became the very first to accomplish that dream, followed only minutes later by Buzz Aldrin . Their accomplishment placed the United States ahead of the Soviets in the Space Race and gave people around the world the hope of future space exploration. Also Known As: First Moon Landing, First Man to Walk on the Moon Crew Aboard Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Michael Collins Overview of the First Man on the Moon: When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, the United States was surprised to find themselves behind in the race to space. Still behind the Soviets in the Space Race four years later, President John F.

Kennedy gave inspiration and hope to the American people in his speech to Congress on May 25, 1961 in which he stated, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth." continue reading below our video The Apollo 11 Moon Landing Just eight years later, the United States accomplished this goal by placing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Take Off! At 9:32 a.m. on July 16, 1969, the Saturn V rocket launched Apollo 11 into the sky from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On the ground there were over 3,000 journalists, 7,000 dignitaries, and approximately a half million tourists watching this momentous occasion. The event went smoothly and as scheduled. After one-and-a-half orbits around Earth, the Saturn V thrusters flared once again and the crew had to manage the delicate process of attaching the lunar module (nicknamed Eagle) onto the nose of the joined command and service module (nicknamed Columbia).

Once attached, Apollo 11 left the Saturn V rockets behind as they began their three-day journey to the moon, called the translunar coast. A Difficult Landing On July 19, at 1:28 p.m. EDT, Apollo 11 entered the moon's orbit. After spending a full day in lunar orbit, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin boarded the lunar module and detached it from the command module for their descent to the moon's surface. As the Eagle departed, Michael Collins, who remained in the Columbia while Armstrong and Aldrin were on the moon, checked for any visual problems with the lunar module. He saw none and told the Eagle crew, "You cats take it easy on the lunar surface." As the Eagle headed toward the moon's surface, several different warning alarms were activated. Armstrong and Aldrin realized that the computer system was guiding them to a landing area that was strewn with boulders the size of small cars. With some last-minute maneuvers, Armstrong guided the lunar module to a safe landing area. At 4:17 p.m.

EDT on July 20, 1969, the landing module landed on the moon's surface in the Sea of Tranquility with only seconds of fuel left. Armstrong reported to the command center in Houston, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Houston responded, "Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again." Walking on the Moon After the excitement, exertion, and drama of the lunar landing, Armstrong and Aldrin spent the next six-and-a-half hours resting and then preparing themselves for their moon walk. At 10:28 p.m. EDT, Armstrong turned on the video cameras. These cameras transmitted images from the moon to over half a billion people on Earth who sat watching their televisions. It was phenomenal that these people were able to witness the amazing events that were unfolding hundreds of thousands of miles above them. Neil Armstrong was the first person out of the lunar module. He climbed down a ladder and then became the first person to set foot on the moon at 10:56 p.m. EDT.

Armstrong then stated, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." A few minutes later, Aldrin exited the lunar module and stepped foot on the moon's surface. Working on the Surface Although Armstrong and Aldrin got a chance to admire the tranquil, desolate beauty of the moon's surface, they also had a lot of work to do. NASA had sent the astronauts with a number of scientific experiments to set up and the men were to collect samples from the area around their landing site. They returned with 46 pounds of moon rocks. Armstrong and Aldrin also set up a flag of the United States. While on the moon, the astronauts received a call from President Richard Nixon . Nixon began by saying, "Hello, Neil and Buzz. I am talking to you by telephone from the Oval Office of the White House. And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone calls ever made. I just can't tell you how proud we are of what you have done." Time to Leave After spending 21 hours and 36 minutes upon the moon (including 2 hours and 31 minutes of outside exploration), it was time for Armstrong and Aldrin to leave.

To lighten their load, the two men threw out some excess materials like backpacks, moon boots, urine bags, and a camera. These fell to the moon's surface and were to remain there. Also left behind was a plaque which read, "Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." The lunar module blasted off from the moon's surface at 1:54 p.m. EDT on July 21, 1969. Everything went well and the Eagle re-docked with the Columbia. After transferring all of their samples onto the Columbia, the Eagle was set adrift in the moon's orbit. The Columbia, with all three astronauts back on board, then began their three-day journey back to Earth. Splash Down Before the Columbia command module entered the Earth's atmosphere, it separated itself from the service module. When the capsule reached 24,000 feet, three parachutes deployed to slow down the Columbia's descent. At 12:50 p.m. EDT on July 24, the Columbia safely landed in the Pacific Ocean , southwest of Hawaii.

They landed just 13 nautical miles from the U.S.S. Hornet that was scheduled to pick them up. Once picked up, the three astronauts were immediately placed into quarantine for fears of possible moon germs. Three days after being retrieved, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were transferred to a quarantine facility in Houston for further observation. On August 10, 1969, 17 days after splash down, the three astronauts were released from quarantine and able to return to their families. The astronauts were treated like heroes on their return. They were met by President Nixon and given ticker-tape parades. These men had accomplished what men had only dared to dream for thousands of years - to walk on the moon.

Question: In which year did men first walk on the moon?
Answer: 1969